Lens Reviews / Fujinon Lenses i Not yet tested

18-120mm

(From Fujifilm lens literature) TOKYO, May 31, 2022 – FUJIFILM Corporation (President and CEO, Representative Director: Teiichi Goto) announces the launch of the “FUJINON Lens XF18-120mmF4 LM PZ WR” (XF18-120mmF4 LM PZ WR) in September 2022. The new lens joins the extensive lineup of interchangeable XF lenses designed for the X Series of mirrorless digital cameras, which are renowned for their compact and lightweight design and outstanding image quality delivered with Fujifilm’s proprietary color reproduction technology.

The XF18-120mmF4 LM PZ WR is a 6.7x power zoom lens in a compact design, covering a wide variety of photographic situations from landscape to portraiture. It is capable of highly-accurate electrically-controlled zooming and focusing, and incorporates development expertise fostered in broadcast lenses and cine lenses to offer fully-fledged video recording capability with easy operations.

The XF18-120mmF4 LM PZ WR is a hybrid lens catering to both stills and videos to produce high-quality images.

The XF18-120mmF4 LM PZ WR covers focal lengths from the wide angle 18mm to the telephoto 120mm (equivalent to 27mm - 183mm in the 35mm film format). It offers the fast F4.0 maximum aperture across the entire zoom range, and maximum magnification ratio of x0.2 to capture close-up shots. The lens accommodates a wide variety of shooting scenes including wide-angle landscape photography, portraiture taken wide open at the telephoto end to produce a beautifully-blurred background, and close-up shots of flowers and other plants.

The XF18-120mmF4 LM PZ WR also boasts advanced video characteristics, suppressing change in angle of view during focusing and optical axis shift during zooming. Users can zoom and focus with confidence while filming video, thus facilitating premium-quality video production. In addition to the regular zoom and focus rings, the lens is equipped with a variable zoom / focus control ring and a zoom button for constant zooming. These versatile video functions have only been made possible thanks to the expertise of the FUJINON Lens brand, which has produced numerous broadcast lenses and cine lenses.

Fujifilm will continue to enhance the appeal of the X Series with the introduction of the XF18-120mmF4 LM PZ WR, which can cover a variety of shooting scenes in both stills and videos to broaden users’ shooting experiences.

1. Product features

(1) Broad range of focal lengths for superior stills and videos

• The lens consists of 15 lens elements in 12 groups, including three aspherical lenses and three ED lenses, to effectively suppress spherical aberration, distortion and chromatic aberration for excellent image-resolving performance. The highly-versatile 6.7x zoom in a compact design means users can precisely capture fine details in information-heavy landscape photography at wide angle as well as in telephoto closeups of a subject such as portraiture.
• The positioning of the focusing group of lens elements is optimized to optically suppress focus breathing. Advanced technology applied to FUJINON cine lenses offers a superior filming experience by reducing change in angle of view during focusing in video filming.
• The aspherical elements are effectively positioned to enable working distance as short as 46cm from the front-most lens element across the entire zoom range for close-up photography with the maximum magnification ratio of x0.2. The lens can go up close to a subject even in a telephoto range of focal lengths. The compact lens design makes it possible to be less imposing in approaching a subject, both in stills and videos.

2. Fast and highly accurate AF

• The lens uses the Inner Focus system, which drives the compact and lightweight focusing lens group with a linear motor. The lens group’s compact design facilitates fast and precise AF capable of attaining focus in just 0.02 seconds*1, ensuring that users do not miss a decisive photo opportunity.
• The lens’ focus-tracking performance is dramatically improved when it is mounted on the “FUJIFILM X-H2S” (X-H2S), a new mirrorless digital camera also announced today. The lens is compatible with the camera’s high-speed focus drive mechanism to maintain a natural focus on a moving subject even during video filming.

*1 AF speed on the wide angle end, using an internal measurement method compliant with the CIPA Guidelines, when mounted on the mirrorless digital camera “FUJIFILM X-T4” with Phase Detection AF activated and the High Performance Mode turned ON.

(3) A variety of video-filming functions for easy video production

• The aperture drive control has been updated to successfully suppress exposure shift linked to aperture adjustments. The new system delivers smooth aperture transition, corresponding to change of luminosity, so that users can comfortably film a scene with a rapid change of brightness.
• The lens features Zoom / Focus control ring*2, which allows users to control zooming or focusing at a variable speed. During video filming, users can control the pace of zooming or focusing precisely, giving greater freedom in video expressions.
• The lens also comes with new Zoom button*3, which can drive zooming at a constant pace, allowing anyone to master video production that involves zooming.

*2 Z/F Selector is used to switch between zooming and focusing.

*3 When mounted on the X-H2S, the Zoom button can be used to switch between zooming and focusing, and adjust the speed setting at 8 levels. For FUJIFILM X-T4, FUJIFILM X-T3 and FUJIFILM X-S10, future firmware updates will enable the use of these functions as well.

• The Remote Rec function*4 of the mirrorless digital camera “X-H2S” can be used to control not only the X-H2S but also the XF18-120mmF4 LM PZ WR on a computer browser. Up to four cameras and lenses can be remotely controlled, enabling multi-camera shooting with limited staff availability.

*4 This function is enabled when using the X-H2S with the optional accessory “FT-XH.”

(4) Compact and lightweight design for advanced mobility

• The aspherical lens and ED lens are effectively positioned to make the lens compact and lightweight, weighing just 460g, measuring 123.5mm in length and 72mm in filter thread diameter. It boasts advanced portability while covering a broad range of shooting scenes for agile filming.
• The use of the Inner zoom system means the lens barrel has an uncomplicated, non-extending structure. The result is a lightweight lens that zooms easily with no shift in weight distribution. Additionally, instead of the conventional cam barrel, in which the lens barrel rotates, this lens uses a smooth power zoom mechanism that drives the zooming lens group linearly with a stepping motor. This delivers high-quality shooting with no optical axis shift across the entire zoom range from wide angle to telephoto.

(5) Dust and weather resistant structure capable of operating at low temperatures

• The lens barrel is weather-sealed at 13 points to ensure dust and weather resistance and ability to operate at temperatures down to -10℃. It can withstand sudden weather change or a dusty location, allowing users to shoot in any situations with confidence.